But it is much more likely that America will come up with a new Marshall Plan to counter the expansion of China’s influence in the 21st century, the same way that the US resisted the Soviet influence in the 20th century. This is where the current US administration is heading; and they attach such great importance to the use of international development assistance. However, the potential size of this financial aid is about $60 billion – roughly about the size of China’s investment in the China-Pakistan economic corridor. It is a significant part, but still only a part of China’s investment in Belt and Road. With such limited resources, the Americans are unlikely to replicate the success of last century’s Marshall Plan. The talk about high-quality Western investment compared with Chinese outlays does not help.